FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION NOTES AND LICENSE:This document is an attempt at a faithful transcription of theoriginal document. Special effort has been made to ensure thatoriginal spelling, line-breaks, and vocabulary are left intact, andwhen possible, similar fonts have been used. However, itcontains original formatting and image scans. All rights arereserved except those specifically granted herein.You may distribute this document in whole, provided that youdistribute the entire document including this disclaimer,attributions, transcriber forewords, etc., and also provided thatyou charge no money for the work excepting a nominal fee tocover the costs of the media on or in which it is distributed. Youmay not distribute this document in any for-pay or price-meteredmedium without permission.DEDICATION:Special dedication to my wonderful wife Mylinda who, thoughshe does not understand my Western martial arts hobbies,accepts them anyway, to my active and enthusiastic sonChristopher, and my beautiful daughter with the smiling eyes,Allison.-Kirk Lawson

INTROCUCTION:Frank Gotch is, perhaps, the most famous (and controversial)Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestler of all time.Born in 1877, Gotch began amateur wrestling a a teenager wherehe developed a reputation as an excellent athlete. It was here, inhis wrestling formative years, that he acquired his taste, andnotoriety, for using “Toe Holds.”Gotch began his Professional Wrestling Career in 1899 againstnone other than former American Heavyweight Champion, DanMcLeod. Though he lost, it was only after a two-hour battle, animpressive feat by a newcomer against a champion. Later thatsame year Gotch challenged, and again lost to, champion andwrestling legend Martin “Farmer” Burns, who was so impressedthat he offered to coach Gotch.Gotch eventually took the title of American HeavyweightChampion in a 1904 match against Tom Jenkens.Undoubtedly Gotch’s most famous matches, and the source of much of the controversy, were his matches against wrestlinggreat George Hackenschmidt for the title of World HeavyweightChampion. Gotch won the title in 1908 with one of his signatureToe Holds, and then defended it against Hackenschmidt in 1911.In both of these matches Hackenschmidt and fans claimed foul play by Gotch. However, nothing more than scandalous rumorsever came of the accusations.Retiring in 1913, Gotch held three wrestling titles in his career,“Champion of the Klondike,” “American Heavyweight,” and“World Heavyweight” and has been inducted into at least threewrestling halls of fame.This book, published in 1908 at the height of his career,documents, and purports to teach, Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestlingof the time. Packed with photos of wrestling greats andtechniques, including 4 of Gotch’s famous Toe Holds, thismanual is truly a slice of grappling history.